If I could rank Highmark 0 stars I would. NOT WORTH IT!
Pros
*On-site gym and cafeteria, if you can make time to go that's a nice perk *Benefits and time off were decent *There were a lot of opportunities for people to move around cross-laterally in the company, but only after a year, and only if you received good performance ratings from your manager. So if you received a less than good rating for whatever reason (which many people do since training new employees here in most departments is a non-existent concept), you're stuck for another year where you are until you can get your performance rating back up. That's probably it. I am told some departments vary and had many friends that were happy where they were because they didn't have quite the same experience as we did; try your best to network with current and former employees before taking a position here to make sure you're not entering one of the many toxic zones.
Cons
This is without a doubt the worst place I have ever worked, and I've been employed at 6-8 other different places in my life. Think of every corporate greed festering sentiment you've ever heard about and that is essentially what you'll be getting into with Highmark. *Folks get fired, laid-off or leave on what seems like a daily basis. My floor/department which consisted of 100+ people looked completely different by the time I left; at least 50% of the floor left in about a 2 year period. Very few of these decisions seemed based on anything tangible or measurable; a number of the people I witnessed who got laid-off or fired were good performers. This sort of cut-throat Survivor work environment made it hard to focus after a while; almost everyone I knew was pursuing new opportunities when I left. *Despite what we are told, there's little training opportunities upon on-boarding. *Management will do anything to protect themselves, including firing everyone instead of themselves. *The worst of it all is the HR department. If you decide to work for Highmark, and ever have any issues-such as harassment, or with your manager, or anything of any sort, just keep your mouth shut and internalize it. It absolutely can come back to you instead of being dealt with properly, which is so depressing considering what the purpose of that department is supposed to be, but not surprising since Highmark has made it clear that their concern is not with their employment satisfaction but instead with protecting themselves at any cost. *Finally: People generally don't want to help you with your work or with anything unless you force their hand. I assume that this is a product of the general toxicity of the company.
